This Viral Chile Protester Photo Captured the September 11 Mood

A powerful photograph of a young, female Chilean protester squaring off against an armed special forces officer during a march commemorating the nation’s own September 11 of 1973 has gone viral, reports Chilean daily La Tercera.

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Taken by Reuters photojournalist Carlos Vera Mancilla outside the General Cemetery of Recoleta on Sunday, the image has been viewed almost 600,000 times on the Chilean daily’s Facebook page alone.

According to the Reuters photographer, the young protester was walking with a group when “special forces began selectively arresting people.” It was then that “she reacted and stood before the policeman with a defiant look,” added Mancilla.

A reported 49 protesters were arrested during clashes with security forces throughout Chile on Sunday, as demonstrators honored the democratically-elected socialist President Salvador Allende.

The La Moneda presidential palace hosted the main ceremony, which recalled how in the early hours of Sept. 11, 1973, the Chilean Armed Forces led by General Augusto Pinochet began one of the bloodiest periods in the nation’s history.

With the support of the United States, 2,279 people were murdered during the Pinochet regime while a further 1,248 people were disappeared, 28,000 were tortured and 250,000 people were detained. A further 200,000 people were forced into exile.